


What Are the Odds?

by leo87



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Christmas, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-29
Updated: 2013-12-29
Packaged: 2018-01-06 16:14:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1108902
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leo87/pseuds/leo87
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's the end of Dean's first semester of college, and he has a Christmas gift for Castiel. But now that it's finally time to give it to him, he's getting cold feet. Fluff abounds ♡.</p><p>Written for <a href="http://deancasweek.tumblr.com/">deancasweek's</a> Secret Santa 2013 on tumblr, as a gift for <a href="http://full-time-dreamer-behold.tumblr.com/">full-time-dreamer-behold</a>. Many thanks to the amazing <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/users/wallmeetsfloor">Paige</a> for being an awesome beta and cheerleader!</p>
            </blockquote>





	What Are the Odds?

Dean Winchester wasn't normally the sentimental type, and he had to fight the urge to roll his eyes at himself as he sat on the floor of his dorm room, wrapping paper, tape, and scissors laid out in front of him. It had seemed like such a good idea a few weeks ago when he had ordered Castiel's gift- seemed like the normal thing that best friends do, but now that it was finally the moment of truth, time to wrap the gift and hand it over, Dean felt silly.

Dean had met Castiel around four months ago, when Dean had moved into his single on the second floor of Marvin L. Bunker Hall to start his freshman year at Hunts University in southern California. On his very first day on campus, after Sam and Bobby had finished getting him settled in his room and said their goodbyes, Dean and the fifty other boys living on his floor had been summoned to the floor study lounge for their first meeting. Once they were all squeezed into the too-tight space, Castiel had introduced himself as their Resident Assistant, or RA.

Dean had been immediately struck by his appearance, if by "immediately struck" you mean his first thought was literally _"hello, my RA's a hottie with a body."_   Dean tried to be surreptitious as he checked him out- he was disheveled in an adorable kind of way, jeans slung low on his hips and dark hair unkempt and sticking up here and there. The black polo emblazoned with "Bunker Hall Staff" clung flatteringly to the flat planes of Castiel's stomach and to his well-defined upper arms as he gestured around, clearly a little nervous in front of the excitable crowd of boys.

"So yeah, like I was saying, every floor in Bunker Hall has an RA, and I'm yours," he had explained. "You can come to me any time, guys, that's why I live on the floor. Whether it's academic issues, homesickness, having trouble adjusting to all the freedom- that's what I'm here for. I live in the first room to the left of the staircase."

Dean's mind had wandered while Castiel proceeded to go over some of the dorm's rules- alcohol and drug policy and the like- but snapped back to attention when he heard "…so now I'll tell you just a little bit about myself."

"Well, I'm a junior majoring in biology with a focus on zoology. In addition to being an RA, I'm a research assistant in the entomology lab on campus, which is a fancy way of saying I watch the bees so a bunch of lazy PhD candidates don't have to."

The group of boys had chuckled, and, encouraged, Cas had gone on to say, "I guess you could say I'm practically a _bee_ -ology major." This pun had been greeted with many groans and good-natured snickers, and Castiel had blushed in a way that Dean had found altogether adorable. Though, Dean had thought at the time, it was probably highly inappropriate for him to be thinking of his RA and "adorable" in the same sentence.

Castiel had stammered out the rest of his opening speech, explaining where they could find various resources on campus, before releasing them all to go eat their first meal in the dining hall. As the large mass of boys loudly filed out, quite a few hung back to talk to Castiel, much to Dean's annoyance. Not that he was planning on flirting with him or anything, that would have been totally inappropriate, but Dean was raised to have manners, and he thought it would be polite to introduce himself to the guy who was supposed to help him successfully get through his freshman year.

Reluctantly, Dean had left the study lounge and returned to his room to collect his student ID card without introducing himself to his (totally cute but that's beside the point) RA.

He had befriended the two roommates who lived next door to him- Benny and Victor- earlier that day when he and Bobby had helped them maneuver their futon through their door, and when they invited him to eat dinner with them in the dining hall, he readily accepted.

On their way to the stairs, the three of them had run into Castiel again, just as he was returning to his room. Victor had invited Castiel to eat with them too, an invitation which he graciously accepted (although Dean suspected he might be contractually obligated to interact with them).

For the first minute or two of dinner, it had been a little awkward- since Castiel was supposed to be the figure of authority it seemed like neither he nor the trio of freshman knew what to talk about besides the cursory introduction stuff. But then, after a beat of two of silence, Dean had blurted out, "So, bee-ology, huh?" and that had sent the whole table into fits of uproarious laughter, including Cas, who hung his head in faux-shame.

"Yeah, not my best pun work,” he had said, smiling ruefully.

And it was because of that stupid, godforsaken pun that Dean was in the situation he was now.

You see, over the course of the semester, Dean, Benny, Victor, and Cas had become close friends, despite the age disparity between Cas and the other three. Of course, he knew Cas had other friends- friends from his own freshman year, and friends on the Bunker Hall staff, and it seemed like he split his time pretty evenly between the groups. He ate at least half of his meals with Dean, Benny, and Victor, but he and Dean hung out almost every night.

He's not even really sure how it had happened- after that first dinner, they sort of just kept inviting Cas to dinner, and he would sometimes accept, sometimes say he had other plans, and then once in September Dean knocked on Cas's door to see if he could help him with a particularly hard part of a bio lab, then suddenly they were studying together regularly, and after a while he would just walk into Cas's room without knocking and flop down on his bed. Sometimes they played video games, sometimes Dean would read Vonnegut and listen to Led Zeppelin with headphones on while Cas played classical music and worked his way through organic chemistry problem sets, and sometimes they just talked.

Cas would talk about the bees he studied and his aspirations for the future, and all the different grad programs he was looking into. Dean would talk about Sam and how well he was doing in high school, and about how much he missed his car, even though he trusted Bobby to look after her. It was $400 for a parking pass, and that was an expense Bobby just couldn't swing, so unfortunately Baby had to stay back in Sioux Falls.

And by the time it was late November and Dean found himself browsing Amazon looking for a Christmas gift for Cas, Dean felt it was time to accept he had become best friends with his RA.

And so what if sometimes while he was supposed to be reading he would peek out over the pages and watch the way Castiel's hands played over his molecular models, long fingers deftly moving pieces around while his blue, blue eyes got all squinty in that favorite way of Dean's. And so what if sometimes over dinner he'd catch himself staring for just a little too long at Castiel's lips after he took a sip of water, or laughing a little too loud at one of his stupid bee lab stories? So what if his stomach did a little flip-flop when Cas would pass him his calculator and their hands would accidentally brush?

Cas was his _friend_ \- Dean wasn't even sure which way he swung, but regardless, Cas had _never_ given him any reason to think they were anything more than good friends, and if Dean had anything, it was his dignity. And if that meant he had to moon silently over Cas (and he was _not_ mooning, just for the record) until either Cas graduated or Dean got over it, so be it.

Which brought him back to the problem at hand. Dean had sitting on his lap a bumblebee pillow-pet, one of those stuffed animals that could also be a pillow, and it had seemed like such a good idea at the time. It was a kind of good-natured, silly gift that he felt like Cas would appreciate in a totally friends way, and now that it was time to wrap it and give it to him, he wasn't sure why he was getting cold feet.

Dean suspected it had something to do with the fact that he'd been admitting to himself a little more and more lately the extent of his infatuation with his friend, and for some reason giving a freaking stuffed animal to someone you have a crush on felt different than giving it to just a friend, even though it shouldn't matter because it's not like this is a crush he's planning on ever acting on.

Dean sighed, exasperated with himself. Benny and Victor and most of the rest of the floor had already left last night, and Bobby and Sam would be here to pick him up in just a few hours.

 _Nut up, Winchester_ , Dean thought to himself. _He's your best friend. It's not weird that you got him a gift._

Dean nodded to himself, jaw set with determination.

It took him the next five minutes to wrap the awkward shape of the pillow-pet, and it wasn't exactly a thing of beauty when he finished, but hey, at least it was wrapped now.

He stuck the bulky gift under one arm, tried to assure himself that Cas would get the joke and not think the fact that his friend bought him a stuffed animal for Christmas was bizarre, and headed out of his tiny room.

He made his way to the end of the hall, rounded the corner towards the stairs, and stopped right outside Cas's room. Castiel's door was wide open, and he was bustling around the room, wading through an entire semester’s mess of clothes and paper,, tossing items haphazardly into a giant suitcase in the middle of the floor. Dean smiled- Cas had been whining about how much he hated packing for weeks, and Dean had been warning him for just as long not to leave it to the last minute.

"Hey, Cas," Dean said from the doorway, announcing his presence. Cas looked up, slightly startled, then broke into a wide grin that made Dean's stomach do something that was definitely not a flutter.

"Hello, Dean! I was just about to text you." Cas's eyes fell to the lump under Dean's arm, and his raised his eyebrow playfully as he met Dean's gaze again.

"What's that you've got there?"

Dean willed the blush he could feel blooming on his cheeks to go away.

"It's actually, uh," he extended the lumpy, ill-wrapped package in front of him with both arms, "It's for you. Merry Christmas, Cas."

Cas smiled even broader and strode forward, taking the gift from Dean's outstretched hands.

"Thank you, Dean! You didn't have to get me anything."

Dean watched as Cas squeezed the gift experimentally, clearly wondering what it was.

Dean rubbed the back of his neck self-consciously, praying to any deities that may be listening that Cas didn't think he was a total dork when he opened it. Dean had scrounged up the dreidel and snowflake wrapping paper from Jo on the floor above, and it looked ridiculously childish in Cas’ hands now.

"You could open it, or, whatever."

Cas nodded and tore away the wrapping paper, revealing the bee pillow-pet inside.

Dean waited for his reaction for a torturous beat, but, mercifully, Cas started laughing, a real belly laugh that Dean hardly ever heard him do, and pulled Dean into a hug.

"Thank you, Dean," Cas chuckled against his neck. "I love it."

Dean was laughing now too, but mostly to cover up the fact that his heart rate had literally doubled when Cas had pulled him in, one hand on the middle of his back, the other clutching his gift against their sides. Cas wasn't normally a very touchy feely guy, and Dean couldn't even remember the last time he had been this close to him. It made his breath catch in his throat, and he knew he shouldn't feel this way about his friend, but as Cas pulled away he felt a profound sense of disappointment at the loss of his touch.

Dean cleared his throat. "It's because, you know, you're so into bee-ology…"

"Yes Dean, I get the joke," Cas replied, smile making little crinkles next to his eyes.

"It was a very thoughtful gift. I hope you intended for me to sleep with it every night, because that's what's going to happen."

Cas walked over and set the stuffed animal on his bed.

Dean smiled. "Wouldn't have it any other way."

As Cas came back to stand by Dean in the doorway, he grabbed an envelope off of his dresser. Now all the sudden it was Cas's turn to look sheepish.

"I, uh, I actually got you something too." Cas gestured at the envelope in his hand.

Dean raised his eyebrows in surprise, genuinely taken aback. He wasn't sure why, but he really hadn't thought about the possibility that Cas might get him a gift too.

"But, uh," Cas continued, "I've got to take you somewhere to give it to you." Cas looked at Dean bashfully.

"Oh, ok. Yeah, sure, lead the way!" Cas smiled and passed by Dean and through the doorway out into the hall, where he made for the stairs, Dean trailing behind.

Dean's mind raced as he followed Cas out of the front doors of Bunker Hall and into the chilly air. He honestly had no idea what Cas could have gotten him, or why he needed to lead him outside to give it to him. Cas led them down the sidewalk under the covered awning that led to the parking lot. The awning and the many trees in the parking lot had all been festooned with Christmas lights, tinsel, and mistletoe, and in the growing dusk, Dean couldn't help but think it all looked very romantic (although he was not going to let his mind go there, no need to get his hopes up).

As Cas continued to lead them deeper into the decorated parking lot, Dean laughed, "Cas, where are you taking me, man?"

"You'll see," Cas returned with a smile.

Cas led them to somewhere around the middle of the parking lot, and stopped in a row of empty spots under a big oak tree wrapped in white Christmas lights.

"We're here!" Cas announced, turning around to face Dean. He was suddenly bashful again, as he produced the envelope and held it out to Dean.

Dean grinned and shook his head affectionately as he accepted the envelope. "Where's here, dude?"

Cas's eyes shone brightly, reflecting the glow of the twinkling lights above them. "Just open it."

Dean shrugged, and used his finger to work open the envelope. He peered inside- he couldn't really tell what it was, it seemed to be kind of square and plastic, so he pulled it out and held it towards the light.

Dean's jaw dropped, and for a moment he was utterly speechless. He looked from Castiel's excited face back at the square of plastic in his hands, and back to Cas.

"A parking pass? You got me a parking pass? _Dude-"_

"This is your spot!" Cas extended his arms, gesturing to where they stood. "That's why I wanted to bring you here, so I could show you where you'll be parking your Baby next semester."

Dean's chest felt so tight it could explode as he looked at his friend's excited face.

"Cas- _thank you_ , so much, but, I mean, I can't accept this, it's too much."

Cas held up a hand like he was prepared for Dean to put up some resistance.

"Nope, it's too late, I got the pass in your name. RA's get a huge discount on parking passes anyway, and you talk all the time about how much you miss your car, Dean." Castiel's smile softened. "And you deserved to have something really nice for Christmas. So, there you go. Merry Christmas."

The tightness in Dean's chest was threatening to migrate to wetness in his eyes, so in lieu of that happening, he grabbed Cas's shoulders and pulled him into a tight hug, squeezing like he never wanted to let go.

"Thank you, Cas. This means a lot to me," Dean murmured into Cas's shoulder. He felt Cas's hands settle around his waist, strong and firm.

"You're welcome, Dean. I'm very glad to have made a friend like you."

Dean smiled into the crook of Cas's neck, and waited for Cas to pull away, and he guessed Cas must be waiting for him to pull away too, because this hug was definitely still going, bordering on too long for a normal platonic friend-hug. Dean sighed, breathing in Castiel one last time before beginning to pull away.

As they separated, Dean still had one hand on Cas's shoulder, but Cas had yet to drop his hands from Dean's waist. Dean's heart picked up pace as he searched Castiel's face for his intent, but then saw that Cas's gaze was directed not at Dean, but rather above his head.

Dean looked up, following Cas's gaze, and- _oh._ Amid all the holiday decorations adorning the trees and lighting fixtures of the parking lot, there had been a fair amount of mistletoe, and it would appear that someone had hung a sprig of it from this tree. And they were standing right under it.

Dean looked back down to Castiel, prepared to make a wise-crack and try to diffuse the inevitably awkwardness, but his breath caught in his throat at the way Cas was looking at him.

Lips slightly parted, eyes wide and searching, and…hopeful? Dean suddenly became hyper-aware of the fact that Cas's hands still rested on his hips, and his heart beat wildly even as he felt his body subconsciously lean forward.

He felt Cas lean forward too, and suddenly there was almost no space between them, Cas's lips just a whisper away.

Dean met Cas's eyes then, dark blue lit by the glow of the tree, soft and searching.

"Dean…?" Cas whispered quietly. It was a question, a request for permission.

As an answer, Dean closed the space between them, bringing their lips together gently. Cas's lips were soft and pink and perfect, and when Cas wrapped his arms even tighter around Dean's waist and pulled him closer, Dean felt like he was being lit from within.

Dean cupped one hand against the nape of Cas's neck and buried his fingers in the thick, dark hair there, deepening the kiss. Cas sighed softly, parting his lips, and Dean licked along his bottom lip eagerly. Cas responded enthusiastically, licking and nipping back, running his hands up and down Dean's sides.

When they finally broke apart, Dean rested his forehead against Castiel's, with what he was sure must be a totally goofy grin plastered on his face.

Cas was smiling widely as he found Dean's hand and threaded their fingers together.

Dean felt giddy and light-headed as he pulled back and regarded Cas.

"I…wow, so this is a thing, huh?”

Cas rolled his eyes and huffed out a laugh.

"Dean, if you only knew how long I've been wanting to do that…"

Dean's face felt like it could split from smiling so hard. He looked down at their entwined hands, and back at Cas before leaning in to press a chaste kiss to his lips, still amazed that he could.

"Come on, it's chilly out here, let's go back inside."

Cas nodded in agreement, and they began walking back across the parking lot towards the front doors of Bunker Hall, hand in hand and shoulders brushing every other step.

Dean glanced back over his shoulder at the tree in front of his spot, bathing the area in the soft glow of the Christmas lights, and illuminating the sprig of mistletoe still hanging there.

"What are the odds, huh?" Dean bumped Cas's shoulder playfully.

Cas looked at Dean sideways with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"I, uh…may have hung that there earlier today," Cas admitted.

Dean opened his mouth in surprise, and then shoved Cas playfully.

"Dude! That's like, cheating!" he laughed. "I totally thought it was, like, fate or something!"

Cas grinned, clearly unrepentant. "Sometimes, Dean, you have to make your own fate."

Dean shook his head affectionately and gave Cas's hand a squeeze as they approached the entrance to Bunker Hall. 

"Merry Chistmas, Cas."

Cas squeezed back.

"Merry Christmas, Dean.

Hand in hand, they headed out of the cold and into the warmth of the building.


End file.
